AIaaS takes a center stage
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and myriad of underlying AIaaS (Artificial Intelligence-as-a–Service) solutions are promising unique user experiences as well as limitless opportunities to its value chain players
This topic aims to highlight some of the ways smartphones are evolving in this AIaaS era where consumers are increasingly comfortable interacting with AI-backed services such as voice assistants, et al.
Use cases range from consumer voice assistants through cloud-based enterprise AIaaS to complex edge AIaaS for autonomous vehicle operations and everything else in between
Examples of (front-end) consumer AIaaS experiences include conversational commerce, smart chatbot support agents, real-time language translations and most notably… personal voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, et al.) amongst others
Myriad of consumer electronic OEMs alongside (or in partnership with) key tech industry players are betting that AI (particularly AIaaS experiences) will soon play a key role in adoption & differentiation of their products (incl. smartphones)
Role of smartphones
AI; more specifically AIaaS experiences were front & center at major smartphone events throughout 2017; most notably from Apple, Google & Samsung… and is set to only pick up pace in 2018 & beyond
Smartphone makers are hard at work leveraging any & every asset they possess (user/age behavior, Machine Learning, NLP, Neural Networks, et al.) to design their next iteration of devices around unique AIaaS experiences
Leveraging AI experiences such as voice assistants, real-time object, signage identification, real-time language translation, et al. smartphone makers are also banking on re-inventing user personalization 2.0 (read: differentiation factor)
How are smartphones evolving?
#1. Smartphones will be a key component; not center of the ecosystem
Amazon – arguably the current market leader (U.S) in consumer AIaaS in the form of Alexa voice assistant – doesn’t make a single smartphone!
Early AIaaS experiences such as voice assistants (Siri, etc.) may very well have had their debut on smartphones… but no longer depend (solely) on them to thrive…
…On the contrary, its success is largely dictated on the ability to remain omni-present & agnostic of any single device / platform…
…and hence why some type of these AIaaS experiences are rapidly making inroads into alternative platforms such as smart speakers, headphones, white goods, TVs, laptops, vehicles and even the odd home robot
Instead of being at the center; smartphones are increasingly becoming an integral part of the broader AIaaS ecosystem that include these alternative platforms
As such smartphones will continue to play 2 key roles in the evolving AIaaS ecosystem –
- Input (AI learning) – As the most accessed personal device (home & mobile); smartphones play a big role in strengthening the provider’s AI system (more user inputs = better AI learning)
- Output (AI services) – Being a multi-trick pony enables providers to serve combination of AIaaS experiences (photo, audio, video, assistant, etc.) on a single device
Additionally, the speed of transition away from smartphones as central platform to access AIaaS experiences also depends largely on the mass adoption of aforementioned alternative devices as well as global availability of the same
#2. Traditional ‘tech-specs’ differentiators will gradually lose their significance
Since the birth of modern smartphone a decade ago, majority of smartphone makers have largely relied on their device’s tech-specs credentials (camera, processors, display, etc.) as key differentiators (read: marketing lever)
Initially, this strategy worked for myriad of reasons, but mostly because the ‘specs delta’ between each iterative model was significant enough to encourage device upgrades (Think: 8MP dual lens vs. 2MP single lens camera, 4GB vs. 1GB RAM, etc.)
But over the last few years (iterations) this specs Δ has narrowed (largely insignificant); creating a challenge for smartphone makers in differentiating their devices solely on iterative tech-upgrades
To quote Rick Osterloh (SVP of Hardware) from the recent Google hardware event – “Moore’s law and Dennard scaling are ideas of the past. The playing field for hardware components in smartphones is leveling off. Core features are table stakes now. Smartphones are reaching parity on their specs”
Almost every smartphone (Android & iOS) from last few years are capable enough of performing core tasks (Apps, Mail, Web, Maps, Music, Video) effortlessly with most even supporting AIaaS experiences such as virtual assistants without any issues
Handful of smartphone OEMs have already begun moving away from marketing their devices’ differentiating factor solely on tech-specs, instead focussing on unique AIaaS experiences
#3. Future smartphone hardware innovations will be aligned to provide seamless AIaaS experiences
On the other end, fewer consumers are actually making smartphone purchase decisions squarely on the device’s iterative tech-specs improvements; specifically those on EIP plans (or fully paid off) with yester-year flagship devices
What can be expected is that the focus of smartphone tech-specs will shift from traditional components (cameras, storage, etc.) to the sum-of-components that specifically support complex AI experiences (including edge & on-device AI applications)
Though for most part, AI resides on (provider’s) cloud & network edge infrastructure, in certain instances (latency-critical, privacy, etc.) select AIaaS tasks will be performed on the terminal device itself (on-device AI)
It is the seamless provisioning of the latter where smartphone’s hardware innovation is largely headed towards…
…predominantly (but not limited) related to advanced chipsets (think: Apple’s A11 Bionic chip) that power the onboard AI-processing of complex tasks such as localized photo enhancements, advanced facial recognition, instant-voice assistant and more
So…
Whilst smartphone OEMs may still have a few more hardware tricks up their sleeves (improved camera, display, foldable screens, et al.)… these iterative hardware improvements alone aren’t sufficient enough to sustain long-term revenue margins (especially in markets where device upgrade intervals are growing longer)
Generally speaking, not all mobile phones will evolve to support AIaaS experiences… but those smartphones serving AIaaS experiences will most certainly evolve!
Initially, this evolution maybe limited to select high-end devices from smartphone makers who’ve already waded deep into AI… gradually making its way to entry-level devices in due time through various models (partnerships, licensing, etc.)
AI’s proliferation itself will rely on consumer acceptance… which; in turn… relies on the underlying AI platform’s scalability, regionalization & personalization potential as well as its privacy & security credentials
In the near future; there may be 2 distinct groups of smartphones OEMs –
- Those who’ll own both the AIaaS & smartphone platforms (e.g. Apple) AND
- Those who’ll need to partner/license AI solutions from established providers like Amazon & Google for lack of their own robust AI solution
It seems certain that AI & its underlying AIaaS experiences are here to stay for the foreseeable future and its provisioning thereof would entail the evolution of every consumer electronic device it touches… including smartphones
The ‘AI’ behind AIaaS services can be processed on the cloud, edge and/or on-device itself; each presenting its own set of challenges & opportunities to value chain players as well as end users themselves…future segments will aim to cover these in more detail
Stay tuned!